


(Not) Meant to Be Alone

by SleepingDragons



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Angry Jaskier | Dandelion, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Has Feelings, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Uses His Words, M/M, Post-Episode: S01E06 Rare Species, mix of book and netflix geralt, or hopeful at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25292026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingDragons/pseuds/SleepingDragons
Summary: Witchers were meant to be alone; the Path was never wide enough for a companion, not really.  Witchers were meant to be alone.  They weren't meant to be lonely.  They certainly weren't meant to be humming music they hadn't heard in months, just to fill the silence.Witchers were meant to be alone.  Geralt clung to that fact.  He had been alone for nearly a century.  What was twenty two years in comparison?  Soon enough this wretched feeling of loneliness would end.He was meant to be alone.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 3
Kudos: 127





	(Not) Meant to Be Alone

If ever there was a time where Geralt believed the lie that Witchers had no emotions, it certainly wasn't now. Not when the silence clawed at him like a monster he could barely fight, let alone kill. Not when every hunt left him thinking how Jaskier would pester him for details, writing it all down in his little journal, to be worked into a song while they walked together. Not that Geralt was overly good at providing details in the first place. Instead, he was just good at driving people away.  


Good. That was the point. Witchers were meant to be alone; the Path was never wide enough for a companion, not really. Witchers were meant to be alone. They weren't meant to be lonely. They certainly weren't meant to be humming music they hadn't heard in months, just to fill the silence.  


Witchers were meant to be alone. Geralt clung to that fact. He had been alone for nearly a century. What was twenty two years in comparison? Soon enough this wretched feeling of loneliness would end.  


He was meant to be alone. 

The notice board was just outside the tavern. Of course. Meant to be alone or not, jobs relied on people to pay for them. He scanned the flyers, looking for something with reasonable pay at least. Nest of drowners in the river where the women liked to launder their clothing. Easy enough. Pulling the paper from the door, he turned and started walking away. The tavern door opened behind him with a creak and a drunken man stumbled out, laughing. More laughter sounded from inside, and a woman's voice yelling "Play us another!" to cheers of agreement.  


Then, familiar notes on a lute.  


Geralt stopped in his tracks, notice clutched in his fist. Closing his eyes for a moment, he tried to force himself to continue walking. The song was popular, plenty of bards had picked it up and spread it throughout the continent. It didn't mean anything.  


That voice though, that voice meant everything.  


Hardly aware of what he was doing, Geralt turned and pushed through the tavern door.  


There, weaving between tables and collecting coins, was Jaskier.  


A few heads turned to the door, eyes lighting on the wolf medallion around his neck. "Hey, Witcher!" someone called, tossing a coin his way. Geralt caught it reflexively, not taking his eyes off the bard. To Jaskier's credit, if Geralt's sudden appearance fazed him at all, he didn't show it. He just led into the chorus once more, and soon enough coins were being tossed both at the witcher and his bard.  


The song was over too soon, but it was met with applause. "Sing us one about the white wolf!" a woman yelled. Geralt almost expected him to refuse. What good was the white wolf to him? He had left him alone on a mountaintop. But Jaskier just grinned and started singing the tale of the white wolf curing a strigga. Embellished for dramatic effect, of course. Unable to simply leave, no matter how much he told himself he should, Geralt moved to a back table, eyes still on Jaskier. A waitress set a bowl of stew and some bread in front of him with a smile. 

He stayed there, drowners forgotten, when the sun had long past set, and people began to stumble off to their homes.  


Jaskier bowed. "Thank you and goodnight!" Waving at the barkeep, he headed up the stairs, to where he no doubt had a room.  


Geralt followed.

He found Jaskier leaning against the wall, evidently waiting for him.  


"Jaskier," Geralt began, but the bard cut him off.  


"What do you want, Geralt?" His voice was cold, a far cry from his cheerful and triumphant singing downstairs.  


He hesitated. "Nothing." Old habits were hard to break, it seemed.  


Jaskier barked out a laugh. "I don't know, for someone who supposedly wants for nothing, you sure seemed to want me gone."  


Geralt winced. He deserved that. A part of him wanted to run, to pretend he hadn't fucked things up beyond repair. But he had to try. "Maybe I wanted to see my friend again?"  


Jaskier scowled. "We're not friends, Geralt. You made that very clear."  


Fuck. He deserved that, too.  


The stairs behind him creaked as someone made their way to the second floor. The man looked between the stone faced bard and the hopeless looking Witcher. "I'll just leave you to it," he said, quickly heading into his own room.  


Jaskier sighed. "Lets not do this here, okay?" Geralt nodded, and Jaskier pulled a key from his pocket, unlocking his room. Geralt followed, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to fix this.  


"You still sing about me," Geralt tried. "I thought you might have stopped, but you seemed to like me well enough then."  


"I'm not about to throw away all the work I put into making people like you, just because I don't. Wouldn't be fair to the other Witchers, if I started singing about how wolves have no hearts after all."  


There had to be a way to fix this. The past few months had been hell. He couldn't lose him again. But he might not have a choice. "Come with me again."  


"No. You got your blessing. I'm off your hands now. You can go back to hunting monsters without a useless bard slowing you down."  


"It wasn't a blessing."  


"What?"  


"Having you gone wasn't a blessing. It was more like a curse." He paused, trying to find the words to explain how much it had hurt to be without him. "I missed you." That wasn't enough. Fuck, why were feelings so hard? "Please, Jaskier, I don't want to be alone. Don't make me do that again." He met Jaskier's eyes, searching for a glimmer of hope. He wasn't glaring anymore, at least. "Can we try again? There's a nest of drowners in the river. I know it's not the best material for a ballad, but I'm sure you could come up with something."  


Jaskier smiled. "I'd like that."

**Author's Note:**

> Would you believe I initially set out to write fluff? But Jaskier wanted to be angry apparently.


End file.
